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Rajputs are people who belong to a loose grouping of clans or tribes originating in India and Pakistan that claim descent from the ancient royal dynasties of the region. Among Hindus, Rajputs are the principal group generally regarded as belonging to the Kshatriya varna within the Hindu caste system.

The use of the term rājaputra is first found in the 7th century AD. Evidently, the use of the term "Rajput" originated in the areas that form the present-day states of Rajasthan (formerly named Rajputana) and Gujarat and spread only gradually to other parts of North India and Pakistan; the Kshatriyas of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh still do not generally self-describe as rajputs. The association of this term with Rajasthan and Gujarat is definite; even in areas where the term is used widely, the people referred to as "Rajputs" tend to ascribe an origin in those areas to themselves.

Rajput dynasties played a very prominent role in the history of northern India. Furthermore, the rajputs developed an ethos of warlike chivalry that served as the benchmark, in past centuries, for other Indian communities as they ascended to regional dominance. This martial ethos did not preclude patronage of the arts: distinctive forms of painting and architecture developed under the aegis of rajput courts, and classical music found support. Thus, the rajputs have contributed directly and indirectly to many facets of the Indian crasis; a detailment of some of these should be of interest to historians, sociologists, political scientists and Indologists among others.

Demographics

Rajputs in India are mostly Hindus. There are some Rajputs who follow the Sikh path, and they often intermarry with Hindu Rajputs. In Pakistan, and to a lesser extent also in India, there are many Muslim Rajputs (Siddiqui 2004) descended from Hindus who converted to Islam, who do not normally intermarry with Hindus or Sikhs of any caste, but who may intermarry with Muslims of any caste although they usually tend to marry other Muslim Rajputs.

Neither the Indian census nor the Pakistani census has recorded caste affiliation since 1931 (except in the case of Backward or Scheduled Castes) and any estimates of those claiming Rajput lineage or caste are necessarily inexact. Estimates range around 40 million Indians claiming Rajput descent as of 2001.

The 1901 census reported a total of 9,712,156 Rajputs in all of British India. Some 7.9 million were reported as Hindu and some 1.8 million as Muslim. Only 620,229 were living in Rajputana. The largest clan were the Rahtor with 122,160 members.

The 1931 census reported a total of more than 11 million Rajputs, of whom some 9 million were Hindus, about 50,000 Sikhs, and 2.1 million Muslims.

Some Hindus believe that the Muslim faith is incompatible with the nature of a Rajput, which they conceive of as being determined by Brahmanical religious teachings concerning caste, and thus believe that the people self-describing as Muslim Rajputs, who do not subscribe to those teachings, should instead be described as Muslim descendants of Rajputs. However, Muslim Rajputs do not concede that those Hindus have any authority to dictate to them what their identity is. For Muslim Rajputs, their Rajput identity is a matter of lineage and descent, not of a religiously prescribed caste role.

In fact, there is no person or group possessing authority to either validate or invalidate anyone's claim to being a Rajput, so whether any particular individual or clan is or isn't Rajput is essentially a matter of self-identification by that individual or clan and of acceptance by others.

Most Rajputs are speakers of Hindi, Panjabi, or Gujarati. Rajputs of Rajasthan may speak Rajasthani languages. SIL lists dialects particularly associated with Rajputs, Rajput Garasia (a Scheduled Tribe in Rajasthan, 100,000 speakers), Loarki/Gade Lohar (20,000 speakers in Pakistan and about 1,000 (nomadic blacksmiths) in Rajasthan) and the Gaddi of Himachal Pradesh, a Scheduled Tribe of nomadic pastoralists (120,000 speakers, bilingual in Hindi).

Origins

The traditional occupations of the rajput are war and agriculture. As many scholars have pointed out, these areas lend themselves uniquely to the ingress of groups that were not formerly affiliated with those professions. The gradual accomodation of the new entrants into the social and family circle of the traditional community is the essential quid pro quo of the Sanskritization that the aspirant community essays. This phenomenon of gradual inclusion has indubitably obtained in the case of the Rajputs, with certain Jat and Maratha dynasties being among the most recent to venture the claim of affiliation with the rajput community. In view of this, to seek a single and common, definitive origin for every present-day rajput is widely recognised as being an exercise in futility. However, we present both the traditional view and certain scholarly speculations made by researchers on the origin of the rajputs.

Traditional

As Kshatriyas, the rajputs regard themselves as being descended from the vedic warrior class. Legend ascribes to the Rajputs an origin springing from certain Hindu deities; every rajput must eventually belong to one of three great patrilineages, being:

• the Agnivanshi lineage, claiming descent from Agni, the Hindu Fire-god;
• the Suryavanshi lineage, claiming descent from Surya, the Hindu Sun-god;
• the Chandravanshi lineage, claiming descent from Chandra, the Hindu Moon-god.

Some scholars also count Nagavanshi, Rishivanshi and Vayuvanshi as traditional lineages. The Yaduvanshi lineage, claiming descent from the Hindu god Krishna, are in fact a great sept of the Chandravanshi lineage.

The aforementioned three patrilineages (vanshas) sub-divide into 36 main clans (kulas), which in turn divide into numerous branches (shakhas) to create the intricate clan system of the rajputs. The principle of patrilineage is staunchly adhered to in determining one's place in the system and a strong consciousness of clan and lineage is an essential part of the Rajput character. Authoritative listings of the 36 rajput clans are to be found in the Kumārpāla Charita of Jayasimha and the Prithvirāj Rāso of Chandbardai.

Scholarly speculations

Among the origin-legends mentioned above, the one which addresses the origin of the Agnivanshi rajputs is particularly interesting, not least because they were the earliest to rise to political prominence. This legend begins with the puranic legend wherein the traditional kshatriyas of the land were exterminated by Parashurama, an avatara of Vishnu. Later, sage Vasishta performed a great Yagya or fire-sacrifice, to seek from the gods a provision for the defense of righteousness on earth. In answer to his prayer, a youth arose from the very flames of the sacrifice -- the first Agnivanshi rajput. In some versions of the legend, all the rajput lineages rose from the sacred flames in this manner.

This legend is interesting in suggesting the possibility that people who were not hitherto regarded as kshatriyas/rajputs could come to be regarded as such after the customary fire-sacrifice based purificatory rituals. This legend has been used as the basis for many scholarly speculations on the origin of the rajputs. James Tod uses this legend as a basis for speculating upon a Scythian origin for the Rajputs. He suggests that Scythian (Saka, Huna) tribes which invaded India in the 6th century AD and disappeared into the population soon afterwards were the forbears of present-day rajputs.

Political history

Rajput history, being a part of the broader north Indian, can be classified classified easily into several distinct periods.

Early history (7th-11th centuries AD)

The first Rajputs kingdoms are attested in the 7th century, and the Rajputs rose to prominence in Indian history in the ninth and tenth centuries. The four Agnivansha clans, the Pratiharas (Pariharas), Chauhans (Chahamanas), Solankis (Chaulukyas), and Paramaras (Parmars), rose to prominence first. The Pratiharas established the first Rajput kingdom in Marwar in southwestern Rajasthan, with the Chauhans at Ajmer in central Rajasthan, the Solankis in Gujarat, and the Paramaras in Malwa. The Rai dynasty ruled Sindh during the 6th and 7th centuries AD. Sindh was conquered by an Arab Muslim army of the Caliphate, led by Bin Qasim, in the 8th century. According to some sources, Bin Qasim also attacked Chittorgarh, and was defeated by Bappa Rawal. Certain other invasions by murauding "Yavvanas" are also recorded in this era. By this time, the terms "Yavvana" (literally: "Greek") was applied any tribe that resided to the west and north-west of present-day Pakistan. Lalitaditya of Kashmir defeated one such invasion in the 8th century and the Pratiharas rebuffed another in the 9th century. The Pratiharas initially established themselves at Ujjain and ruled Malwa. Later, they established themselves at Kannauj, from which they ruled much of northern India, from Kathiawar in the west to Magadha in the east, in the 9th century.

Archaeological evidences and contemporary texts suggest that the Indian society had achieved significant prosperity during the Rajput rule. Numerous inscriptions from this period have been found. The literature composed in this period in Sanskrit and in Apabhramshas constitutes a large segment of the classical Indian literature. The early 11th century also saw the reign of the polymath king Bhoj, Paramara ruler of Malwa. He was not only a patron of scholars, but was himself a distinguished writer. His Samarangana-sutradhara deals with architecture and Raja-Martanda is a famous commentary on Yoga-sutra.

Early kingdoms: The Rajput clan organization first become crystallized in this period. Intermarriage among the Rajput clans interlinked the various regions of India, facilitating the flow of trade and scholarship. Clans claiming descent from the Solar and Lunar races, who were originally vassals of the other clans, later established independent states. The Guhilas (later called the Sisodias) established the state of Mewar (later Udaipur) in the 8th century, under Bappa Rawal, who ruled from Chittorgarh. The Kachwaha clan came to rule Dhundhar, with their capital at Amber, and later Jaipur. The Chandela clan ruled Bundelkhand after the tenth century, occupying the fortress-city of Kalinjar and building the famous temple-city of Khajuraho. The Tomaras established a state in Haryana, founding the city of Dhiliki (later Delhi) in 736. The Kachwahas, Chandelas, and Tomaras were originally vassals of the Pratihara kingdom.

Islamic invasions (11th-16th c.)

In the early 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni conquered the Hindu Shahi kingdom in the Punjab. His raids into northern India weakened the Pratihara kingdom, which was drastically reduced in size and came under the control of the Chandelas. In 1018 AD, Mahmud sacked the city of Kannauj, seat of the Pratihara kingdom. He later withdrew to Ghazni, being interested in loot rather than empire. In the ensuing chaos, the Gahadvala dynasty established a modest state centered around Kannauj, ruling for about a hundred years until they were defeated by Muhammad of Ghor in 1194 AD; the city was again sacked.

Meanwhile, a nearby state centered around present-day Delhi was ruled successively by the Tomara and Chauhan clans. The Rajputs fought each other in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Prithiviraj III, ruler of Delhi, defeated Muhammad of Ghor in 1191 at the First Battle of Tarain, who however defeated Prithviraj the following year at the Second Battle of Tarain. As we have seen, Muhammad's armies later brought down the Gahadvala kingdom of Kannauj in 1194 AD. Some surviving members of the Gahadvala family are said to have refugeed to the western desert, where they formed the Rathore clan and founded the state of Marwar. The Chauhans led by Govinda, grandson of Prithviraj III, later established themselves a small state at Ranthambore. The Songara sept of the Chauhan clan later ruled the town of Jalore, while and Hada sept established their rule over the Hadoti region in the mid-13th century. The Tomaras later established themselves at Gwalior, and the ruler Man Singh built the fortress which still stands there.

The Delhi Sultanate was founded by Qutb ud din Aybak, Muhammad of Ghor's successor, in first decade of the 13th century. Sultan Ala ud din Khilji (1296-1316) conquered Gujarat (1297) and Malwa (1305), and captured the fortresses of Ranthambore in 1301, Chittorgarh (capital of Mewar) in 1303 and Jalor in 1311, all of these after long sieges with fierce resistance from their Rajput defenders. In particular, the seige of Chittor, its brave defence by the Guhilas, the saga of Rani Padmini and the Jauhar she led are the stuff of immortal legend. Ala ud din Khilji delegated the administration of the conquered areas to his principal rajput collaborator, based at Jalore; the latter was soon displaced by his son-in-law Hammir, a scion of the Guhila clan, who re-established the state of Mewar and was progenitor of the Sisodia clan. Mewar emerged as the leading Rajput state; Rana Kumbha expanded his kingdom at the expense of the sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat.

Mughal era (16th-18th c.)

Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat on April 21, 1526. Rana Sanga rallied an army to challenge Babur. He was betrayed by one of his rajput generals, and was defeated by Babur at the Battle of Khanua on March 16, 1527. While the rajput rulers had to submit to Babur, they retained control of their states. Babur's son Humayun was an ineffectual ruler and lived long periods in exile.

During this time, Mewar, which was under the regency of Rani Karmavati, widow of Rana Sanga, was menaced by Bahadur Shah, ruler of Gujarat. Karmavati importuned the assistance of Humayun, son of her late husband's foe. The help arrived too late; Chittor as reduced by Bahadur Shah. This is the occasion for the second of the three Jauhars performed at Chittor. Karmavati leads the ladies of the citadel into death by fire, while the menfolk sally out to meet the beseiging muslim army in a hopeless fight to the death.

Humayun's son Akbar consolidated control of his inheritence and expanded what had been the "Delhi sultanate" into a wide empire. One main factor in this success was indubitably his co-option of native rajput chiefs into his empire-building project; his reign countenenced, for the first time, the involvement of Indians in the affairs of the empire. The rajput chiefs collaborated with alacrity, an alliance cemented by marriage alliance, with numerous rajput noblewomen being wed to mughal grandees. The Kachwahas were the first to give a daughter to Akbar; they pioneered a trend that soon turned pervasive and played no small roile in extending rajput influence to the far corners of India, as also to the north-west frontier and to Afghanistan. Rajput chiefs served as mughal officers and administrators and enjoyed much influence in the government. Two successive mughal emperors, Jehangir and Shah Jehan, were born to rajput mothers. The period is one where the rajput identity, as aristocrats, can be said to have finally crystallized, and caste-divisions became rigid. The trend of political relations between rajput states and the central power was the precursor for similar relations between them and the british.

However, these relations were not universally approbated. Mewar, which justly enjoys a unique position in the rajput mind, held out and valiantly gave battle to Akbar. However, after a brave struggle, during which the ladies of the fort perfomed Jauhar for the third and last time in the history of that citadel, Chittor finally fell to Akbar in 1568. The ruler, Udai Singh, had however retired to the nearby hills prior to this event; he was succeeded, while in exile, by his son Rana Pratap as head of the Sisodias. Even in exile, the Sisodias knew no rest, and harassed the mughal administrators of the land enough to cause them to make overtures. Rana Pratap, a present-day rajput icon, refused all such overtures of friendship and alliance from Akbar, and rallied an army to meet the mughal forces. He was defeated at the battle of Haldighati on June 21, 1576; however, he carried out a relentless guerilla struggle from his hideout in the Aravalli hills. He also banned marraiges between his loyal rajputs with other rajputs of rajasthan, who has entered into matrimonial alliance with the muslims. Rana Pratap's son, Amar Singh, entered into the vassalage of the mughals and thus regained control of his state. The rajputs remained loyal to the mughal dynasty and empire even until the 19th century; in all their official communiques and documents, the rajput courts rarely failed to formally affirm their loyalty to the (by now entirely powerless) mughal emperor.

Maratha and British suzerainty (18th-20th c.)

Jodhpur was conquered by Sindhia, who levied a tribute of 60,000 rupees, and took from it the fort and town of Ajmer. Internecine disputes and succession wars disturbed the peace of the early years of the 19th century, and the Rajput princes asked for British protection from the Marathas during the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-1818. At the conclusion of the war in 1818, 18 states in the Rajputana region, of which 15 were ruled by Rajputs, became princely states of the British Raj, while the British took direct control of Ajmer, which became the province of Ajmer-Merwara. A number of other Rajput states in central India, including Rewa, Ajaigarh, Barwani, Chhatarpur, Datia, Orchha, and Ratlam, became princely states as well, and were placed under the authority of the Central India Agency. Rajput rulers of Rajputana and Central India acceded to newly-independent India after 1947, and Rajputana, renamed Rajasthan, became an Indian state in 1950.

Rajputs and invasions of India

Due to geographic reasons, rajput-ruled states suffered the brunt of aggression from various Mongol-Turkic-Afghan warlords who repeatedly invaded the Indian subcontinent. India was among the most prosperous regions in the world in that era, and had always been the prize for a string of invaders from the north-east. Incidentally, the last of these waves of invaders were of tribes who had previously converted to Islam. In his 1886 book, W.W. Hunter describes how the rajput kingdoms dealt with this aggression:

"Within a hundred years after his (Muhammad's) death, his followers had invaded the countries of Asia as far as the Hindu Kush... almost from (the) first, the Arabs had fixed eager eyes upon (India). Fifteen years after the death of prophet, Usman sent a sea expedition to Thana and Broach on the Bombay coast (c.647 AD?). Other raids towards Sindh took place in 662 and 664 with no results.

The armies of Islam had carried the crescent from the Hindu Kush westwards, through Asia, Africa and Southern Europe, to distant Spain and Gaul, before they obtained a foothold in Punjab. This long delay was due, not only to the daring of individual tribes, such as Sindh Rajputs just mentioned, but to the military organization of the Hindu Kingdoms....Each of these groups of kingdoms, alike in the north and in the south, had a certain power of coherence to oppose to a foreign invader; while the large number of groups and units rendered conquest a very tedious process. For even when the overlord or central authority was vanquished, the separate units had to be defeated in detail, and each state supplied a nucleus for subsequent revolt. We have seen how the brilliant attempt in 711, to found a lasting Muhammedan dynsaty in Sindh, failed....(The mughal) Empire, even in the north of India, had only been consolidated by Akbar's policy of incorporating Hindu chiefs into his government. Up to Akbar's time, and even during the earlier years of his reign, a series of Rajput wars had challenged the Muhammadan supremacy.

In his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan James Tod wrote:

"What nation on earth could have maintained the semblance of civilization, the spirit or the customs of their forefathers, during so many centuries of overwhelming depression, but one of such singular character as the Rajpoot? . . . Rajast’han exhibits the sole example in the history of mankind, of a people withstanding every outrage barbarity could inflict, or human nature sustain, from a foe whose religion commands annihilation; and bent to the earth, yet rising buoyant from the pressure, and making calamity a whetstone to courage. . . . Not an iota of their religion or customs have they lost. . . ".

Culture and ethos

The Rajput ethos is martial in spirit, fiercely proud and independent, and emphasizes lineage and tradition. Rajput patriotism is legendary, an ideal they embodied with a sometimes fanatical zeal, often choosing death before dishonour. Rajput warriors were often known to fight until the last man. The practice of jauhar and saka was followed only in rajput communities. When the outcome of a battle was against the Rajputs, jauhar would be committed by Rajput women and children in the night and next morning men would commit saka. Brahmin priests would chant Vedic mantras and Rajput women wearing their marriage dresses, along with their young children, would embrace sandalwood flames. The next morning after taking a bath, the men would wear saffron-coloured garments and apply the ash from the pyres of their wives and children on their foreheads and put a tulsi leaf in their mouth. Then the palace gates would be opened and men would ride out for complete annhiliation of the enemy or themselves. Rajput men and women could not be captured alive. When Hindus fought against other Hindus there were never any johars or saka because the defeated were treated with dignity. However, history records very few instances wherein a Rajput king sued for peace after a battle reversal and the Muslims initially agreed to the peace terms, only for the Rajputs, and their women and children, to be slaughtered upon surrender and once the pols or gates of their mighty fortresses were opened. One example of this is war between Puran Mal of Raisina and Sher Shah Suri. Rajputs honour their word more then their life and are renowned for their loyalty.

Rajasthan, which has a very high concentration of Rajputs, is located in northwestern India, near the Khyber Pass route used by most foreign invasions of India, including the Arabs, Afghans, Turks, Mughals, and other Islamic invaders of the Middle Ages. In his New History of India, Stanley Wolpert wrote "The Rajputs were the vanguard of Hindu India in the face of the Islamic onslaught."

The Rajput lifestyle was designed to foster a martial spirit. Tod (1829) describes at length the bond between the Rajputs and their swords. The double-edged scimitar known as the khanda was the favorite weapon of the Rajput. On special occasions, a primary chief would break up a meeting of his chiefs with khanda nareal, or a distribution of swords and coconuts (453). In order to attain a greater bond with one's sword, Rajputs revered their swords and conducted the ritual of Karga Shapna during the annual festival of Navratri.

Clan, kinship and communities

By the late nineteenth century, there was a shift from an emphasis on questions regarding the political relations amongst the Rajputs to a concern with kinship (Kasturi 2002:2). According to Harlan (1992:27), many Rajputs of Rajasthan are nostalgic about their past and keenly conscious of their genealogy, emphasizing a Rajput ethos that is martial in spirit, with a fierce pride in lineage and tradition. These lineages were linked to different networks, both sacred and profane. Branches on a stratified lineage could be either Hindu or Muslim (Kasturi 2002:2). Some of the Muslim Rajput groups like Thakurais of East Champaran in Bihar, and some other Muslims of Rajput extraction are notable among Indian Muslims for their descent from a prestigious Hindu caste. Their marginality is sometimes self-imposed as they want to retain their exclusivity by deciding not to marry among other Muslims and preserve their distinction (Siddiqui 2004). A number of sub-castes, or jatis, claim to be Rajputs. Some of them have a historical basis for the claim. Some are considered to be descendants of the Rajputs but are not generally accepted by the main Rajput community (for example, Girasia). Some branches of Jain's and Marwari's had rajput forefathers but none of them are considered Rajputs today.

Famous Rajput people

The rajputs have contributed to many facets of Indian life, both historically and in the modern age. A few rajput stalwarts are mentioned here.

Historical heroes

• Bappa Rawal
• Prithviraj Chauhan
• Rani Padmini
• Rana Sanga
• Rana Pratap
• Mirabai

Modern era

• Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Prime Minister of India (Dec.2, 1989-Nov.10, 1990)
• Chandra Shekhar, Prime Minister of India (Nov.10, 1990-June 21, 1991)
• Jaswant Singh, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
• Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice-president of India.
• Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, olympic silver medalist

See also

• History of Rajputs
• Muslim Rajputs
• Rajputs and Zoroastrianism
• Rajputs and Buddhism
• Rajput painting

References

• Template:Harvard reference .
• Kasturi, Malavika, Embattled Identities Rajput Lineages, Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 01956-5787-x
• M K A Siddiqui (ed.), Marginal Muslim Communities In India, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004) (review)
• Template:Harvard reference.
• W.W. Hunter, The Indian empire, its people, history and products. First published: London, Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill, 1886. ISBN 81-206-1581-6.

External links

• Rajputs Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition; 2005
• Rajput Encyclopedia Britannica; 1911
• British Association of Rajputs

Further reading

English books

Hindi books

• Social groups of India
• Ruling Hindu clans
• Social groups of Rajasthan
• History of India